Baby dies of pneumonia, face chewed up by rats

Jaiprakash and Renu Yadav woke up around 7 am yesterday in their Ganpat Patil Nagar shanty at Borivli (West) to find their 45-day-old daughter dead and her face mutilated.

Medical examinations revealed the girl had died of aspiration pneumonia and rodents had gnawed her face. According to a close relative, the Yadavs tied the knot four years ago and were trying for a baby since long.

Following regular visits to temples and pilgrimages, the couple was finally ‘blessed’ with a daughter. “After having been fed, the child went to sleep around 1 am. When Renu woke up in the morning, she discovered the baby’s half-chewed up face,” informed another relative.

The right side of the infant’s face – including her nose and jaw – had been masticated by rats. The Yadavs took her to Bhagwati hospital where she was declared dead on arrival.

The area where the family resides is grimy and people are staying in extremely unhygienic and unsanitary conditions. The locality is overrun by rats.

“There are too many rodents here and most of the residents have been bitten by these pests at least once,” said Shobha, a resident of the area. Another inhabitant said, “We are used to this rodent menace. It is a part of our daily life now, and all we do is take an injection whenever we are bitten.”

The newborn’s post-mortem report indicates natural death because of aspiration pneumonia, and a milky fluid was found in her lungs.